Canada’s population-adjusted violent and property crime rate has now surpassed the United States, and the gap is growing, according to the most recently available crime statistics.
The Fraser Institute “pre-released” a chapter for an upcoming study which found that Canada’s homicide, property crime and violent crime rates per 100,000 people are on the rise, with the latter two metrics now surpassing its southern neighbours.
According to the study, which used Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Justice statistics and Canadian reported crime data, both countries showed a “dramatic” long-term decline in property and violent crime rates after the 1990s till 2014. After 2014, however, Canada began to see a rise in crime rates, reversing progress.
The study found that from 2014 to 2022 when the latest crime statistics were available, the violent crime rate, such as murder, robbery, and assault with a weapon, in Canada increased by 43.8% to 434.1 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
This means that Canada now has a 14% higher population-adjusted violent crime rate than the U.S., which saw a violent crime increase of 5.3% over the same period, with 380.7 crimes per 100,000 people.
While America’s property crime rate, including burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft, decreased by 24.1% between 2014 and 2024, with 1954.4 crimes per 100,000 people, Canada’s property crime rate increased by 7%, with 2491 crimes per the same metric.
This means that the property crime rate in Canada was 27% higher than in the U.S. in 2022, a metric in which Canada ranked lower than the U.S. before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office.
The U.S.’s population-adjusted homicide rate is two and a half times higher than Canada’s, though Canada’s murder rate has been increasing at a faster pace in the same period.
Canada’s homicide rate rose by 53.4% from 2014 – 2022. From 1.5 murders reported per 100,000 people to 2.3 in 2022. In contrast, the U.S. population-adjusted homicide rate rose by 49.4% to 5.8 per 100,000 in the same period.
Despite the rising crime rates in both countries, the stats are still considered historic lows when compared to crime rates at the beginning of the 1990s which marked the start of dramatic long-term declines.
A look at Statistics Canada reports shows that human trafficking has also surged. The number of police-reported human trafficking incidents has almost tripled in the same period, from 200 reported incidents in 2014 to 597 incidents in 2022.
According to the Statistics Canada report, since the fiscal year of 2012 / 2013, 84% of completed adult court cases involving human trafficking charges resulted in a withdrawal, a dismissal or a discharge.
The Fraser Institute said the chapter only looks at national-level statistics and that the full report would compare crime rates in the US and Canadian metropolitan areas to provide further context.
The Conservative Party of Canada released a statement in response to the study on Thursday, blaming Trudeau’s “catch-and-release” policies for the rising crime.
“After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, our once-safe towns and cities have become rife with crime and chaos. Trudeau’s radical catch-and-release policies have set violent repeat offenders loose on our streets,” the statement said. “Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities.”
Conservatives point to two bills they vow to scrap as a source of the uptick in crime under Trudeau.
Bill C-75 emphasized that judges prioritize granting bail in most situations, which Conservatives argue has resulted in repeat offenders, even those who have violated bail conditions before, being granted bail. The other Bill, C-5, revoked mandatory minimum sentences for certain violent crimes, including firearm offences.
The Ministry of Public Safety did not respond to True North’s request to comment before the deadline provided.
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